She is blind but doesn't lack vision

Eye opener

Her tale of success—two gold   medals and a cash prize in her final year BA history examinations—reverberated at the Mysore University convocation on Friday.
Shalini belongs to M B Halli, 15 km from Mysore. Her flawless skin and  her shy smile ooze  confidence,  positive energy and optimism.  However, a bit of  covering on her right eyeball and a closed left eye do suggest that she is visually impaired.

A thunderous applause greeted her as she, dressed in a white saree, clambered up the dais of the Crawford Hall, venue of the convocation, with the help of her mother Parvatamma to receive the medals from Chancellor of Universities and Governor of Karnataka H R Bharadwaj on Friday.

Recounting her tale of success later with reporters, Shalini, who became blind a few months after she was born, said she was determined to “achieve” something to establish herself in society.

“My aim was to excel, so that someone like me can live rightfully and not at the mercy of others. My father gave up his teaching profession to support me and my brother, who is pursuing his MA in English here. I wanted to make my parents proud for having given birth to us,” she said. Her brother is also visually impaired.

Shalini’s mother, who was highly emotional after her daughter received the medals, said her relatives always mocked her for giving birth to “handicapped” children.
“We had resolved to help our children scale heights so that the same relatives feel that our children are not useless. Today,  I am happy that my daughter has achieved something,” she says. Shalini wants to become an IAS officer. She wants to set an example for the visually impaired in the state. “Policy level changes can be brought in only when we are part of the system. Hence, I yearn to become an officer who  can help disabled people.  I will work for their betterment when I get an opportunity to serve the government,” she says.
DH News Service